MaczynskiPratten: I liked this - a really elegant stalemate trap. The basic trick is to lure or force the Black King to cover White's escape square b2. White actually tried a similar trap a few moves earlier with 77 Rc3+ which Black did not fall for.

I actually took over five minutes on this one, I am not sure if I was "wool-gathering" or what.

I came up with the wild, desperado kind of idea with 84.Rb4+! The Rook can now chase the Black King all over the board, offering itself at every turn. Black can never take - because of the stalemate threat. If 84...Kd3; then 85.Rd4+!, to be followed by more checks, and eventually RxN. >

MiCrooks: Not so much a swindle here as Black has no escape. Anybody have a six piece tablebase that can say when this was actually drawn?

If Black doesn't take then Rxc3+ wins the Knight or stalemates. Interestingly, seems to be strong drawing chances here given that any trade of rooks is a draw. Black cannot keep White from moving a1-b2-a1 etc without stalemating him or dropping the pawn.

ZUGZWANG67: Of course, such a material lead must be a win but it may be not so simple to win it OTB!

In fact, I' m wondering if it was a good idea or not to play 66. ...a2 (?!). That is because in reality, after the push, Black loses the option of trading the Rooks, as the Knight and a rook-pawn to the 7TH (2ND) rank is draw when the weak K stands in front of the pawn.

SuperPatzer77: <gawain: Good one. What a swindle! Frank J. Marshall would have loved it.
The winning strategy for B was to protect the pawn with the knight (posted at b4_ freeing the rook to move off the file (say to h3) and then check at h1.

MiCrooks: Yes, the repositioning of the Knight to c3 rather than b4 was a big mistake. At b4 there is always the threat of Nc2+ forcing the King out of the corner.

After Re3-Rh3 White is dead. Rc1 is one try but then Ka4 mates. Key is that White no longer has any desperado checks. So after the rook moves on the first rank somewhere Black has Rb3. Now if White moves off the back rank it is mate. White is helpless against Ka3, Nc2+ and assuming White has timed it so his Rook is at c1, Rxc2 Rb1++.

After Nd5 Black could still win. He simply had to play Nb4 and try again! Any other move draws.

Phoenix: Funny that today's Tuesday puzzle should feature a stalemate motif. Perhaps solving this puzzle allowed the current World Chess Champion hold on to the draw in today's game in Linares? Ivanchuk vs Anand, 2009

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